The Beast I Have Become

Chapter 2

        I wake up, the sun shining its warm rays on me. I smile, the warmth feeling pretty good. I slowly get up, scratching my head while I'm at it. I yawn loudly and put my glasses on. I let my eyes adjust before getting up. Man, I have a dull throbbing headache.
        "Dammit," I mutter to myself. My head feels like it's being squeezed. I go downstairs and take some ibuprofen, but I have to eat something. If I don't, this thing will end up doing more harm than help. It doesn't kill you, but it just gives you a badass stomachache. At least for me it does. I grab myself some cereal, pouring some milk in it, and eating a spoonful. The taste blows up in my mouth. The taste of artificial flavors actually grossing me out a bit for once. I continue to eat it, even though the taste is a bit nasty. I drink the milk and put the bowl in the sink, pouring some water in it while I'm at it. I grab a piece of chocolate that I got a few days ago, it's some good chocolate, but when I eat it, it actually makes me feel a bit sick to my stomach. Come on! From my cereal to my chocolate, what the fuck?! I'm actually now getting a little pissed, so I grab me a hamburger from a few days ago also. I didn't finish it, so it's only half. I usually finish things, but that day wasn't my day. I ended up puking up everything I did eat. It sucked mega balls.
        Anyway, I feel like this bite has something to do with something. I can't put my finger on it, but I really feel like this fucking bite is gonna have some effect on me. I can just feel it. I've been different, my anger, my feelings toward the moon, just...things. Dammit, I just can't explain it.
        "Hey, Mark," Matt says through the door. "Hey, can you come down? Ryan and I want to talk to you about something." I reply back with an ok and follow Matt down the stairs and to the kitchen table.
        "It's about the bite, isn't it?" I ask when we all are seated. Matt and Ryan look at each other before looking at me again. "Look, I know, it's probably the bite that's doing this to me. I just don't know what the hell it does!"
        "That's what we're gonna try to figure out," Ryan says. "You've been weird since that bite and I feel like this thing that bit you isn't..." he trails off.
        "Natural?" I ask, trying to finish his sentence.
        "Yes," Matt says. "Whatever gave you this bite, couldn't have been something very common. This bite is actually affecting you. Affecting you in ways I've never seen anyone be affected."
        "I know," I reply. "But we don't know if it is 100%. I mean, it could be an odd coincidence, but I know, it's most likely the bite."
        "We should do tests," Ryan says. "Not needle tests. Just different courses ya know? Like catching or jumping or something, because it just sounds like it needs to be done."
        "I agree with Ryan," Matt says. They both look over at me, waiting to see if I'd go with it or not.
        It looks like I don't have another choice, I thought to myself. I'm outvoted.
        "Sure," I reply with shrug. "I don't have any other ideas as to what we should do, so let's go for it." We head out to the yard immediately. Ryan gets some tennis balls, a bat and Matt gets some chairs and whatever to jump over. They set up this obstacle course for me to go through.
        "But one thing," Ryan tells me before we start. "Don't get mad." I nod, and we begin. The first time through sucked. Through "The Leaps of Life", I fell and stumbled over every single one. Through "The Death Throws of Life", I got hit by every ball, not being able to dodge any and even getting an additional ball to my balls. Last but not least, "Catch of Life" (I didn't come up with these names), I missed every single one, I couldn't catch any of the tennis balls thrown at me. I get burning through me, my anger starting to bubble.
        "Let's go again," I growl, now putting as much effort into it as possible. This time, I did an amazing job. I start with a run before jumping over each obstacle, going one by one without stopping. My body didn't even touch the chairs. I land on my feet, my momentum coming down and making my hands land down in between. I get up and go to "The Death Throws of Life" (don't ask me how that even makes sense). I dodge every ball with ninja-like moves; not even a hair touching the balls. Now for the "Catch of Life". I end up catching every ball with amazing agility. My reflexes must've really boosted since I last checked.

Matt's POV

Wow! I've never seen Mark do that! His reflexes must've really boosted or something! Or maybe it's the bite?
        "Wow!" I reply with my eyes wide. "That was just so...wow! Your reflexes are amazing, Mark!" Mark drifts off into thought, his eyes wide and unfocused. He then snaps back into reality and we all head back inside and get drinks. It's hot outside today.
        "Mark," Ryan replies. "You looked like you got really pissed and that looks like what pushed you for greatness. That bite has done something, but the only thing I can think of with affective bites is vampires and werewolves. You would be a werewolf between the two."
        "Aw come on," Mark says, he doesn't want to believe it. "That's bullshit, Ryan. I-I don't think that's the case." He looks like he's considering it, but is in denial. Ryan looks at me and I shake my head. He follows my advice and leaves the subject alone before something bad happens. Mark later heads up to his room and I and Ryan stay downstairs and just quietly discuss our concerns about our friend.
        "He's an out of control thing, Matt!" Ryan says with a whisper-yell. "One wrong glance at him, and he'll come charging at you! I don't know what we're gonna do about him!"
        "Neither do I, Ryan," I reply with a sigh. "But we aren't kicking him out. He's our friend and he came to us for help when he came through that door. We have to try and help him with his 'condition' as best as we can."
        "I know," Ryan says with a worried glance. "But that isn't what bothers me. The thing that irks me is how Mark could be a werewolf. Not only that, but the fact that when I try to find out, he gets a hair up his ass. As stupid as it sounds, the symptoms add up. I've looked on multiple websites just to be sure before telling you guys. They all say the same thing. Bad mood swings, great reflexes, bad temper, etc.. It adds together, Matt!"
        "I'm not saying it's true, but I'm not declining it either," I reply with caution. I don't want to say the wrong thing. "It could be something consider, but we'd have to look more into it." Ryan suddenly gets a look, the lightbulb coming on.
        "The bite!" Ryan says suddenly. "Maybe looking at the bite might tell us something!" I agree and Ryan and I go to look at the bite. Mark hesitates before letting us unwrap his bandages. He has a look that says he doesn't want us to know what happened to it. Almost like he knows we'd feel either disappointed or worried.
         "The fuck?" I ask once I see it. Mark clenches his teeth and closes his eyes. He knew it.
        "But," Ryan sputters. "How?! This bite was fresh from last last night! How could it have healed up this quickly?!" Ryan puts the bandage aside and examines the scars from the bite. It's already healed with smooth pink flesh. How? It's a miracle that Mark even lived through it. A bite to the neck and a huge amount of blood loss, he lives, and now this bullshit!
        "Why didn't you tell us, Mark!" I exclaim, my mind not being able to comprehend this all. Mark then became frantic.
        "I'm sorry!" He replies hastily. "I didn't want you guys to worry! I knew you'd find out eventually. Dammit! I should've told you when I first noticed! Fuck!"
        "Wait!" Ryan says, his eyes wide. "This was another thing. Fast healing. That was another symptom of being a werewolf!" Mark almost snapped, but he kept his cool the best he could.
        "Oh come on!" He replies while throwing his hands in the air. "Just give it up already! I'm not a fucking werewolf! They aren't real and never will be! They're called mythical monsters, to begin with!" Ryan seemed to see this coming because he didn't have much of a surprise on his face.

Mark's POV

We leave it at that and Matt and Ryan leave. I'm sorry for yelling at Ryan, but fuck! Something about him bringing up werewolves pisses me off. I check my widgets on my phone. I have a moon phase app and it has a widget. It tells me the percent and how many days till the full and new moons. Two days till the full moon. I've been kinda...obsessed with what the phase of the moon is lately. I'm actually kinda excited about the full moon coming. So beautiful and silver. Stop. Stop thinking of the fucking moon. Damn.
        "The moon," I reply, now gazing out the window and at the moon. After what seems about five whole minutes, I shake myself out of my trance. Fuck. I have the strong urge to...howl? I don't know. It's night time anyway, I just need some sleep. I go to the bathroom and strip off my clothes and set my glasses on the counter before step into the warm water. I sigh, thinking about all of the events that have previously happened. I scratch my stubble, resting my hand on my cheek. I actually end up slipping on the fucking soap. I landed right on my ass. I get really frustrated at first, but those growls turn into laughs.
        "Fucking soap," I reply with a chuckle. I'm surprised that I haven't gone full out rage mode on that fucking soap. I finish my shower and get out. I dry myself and then rub my towel crazily through my purple-blue hair. I brush out the fresh knots I put in it and put my glasses on so I can see. I put on a pair of boxers and lay myself in bed...

        I ended up having a terrible night.